The Colorado Springs GazetteThe Gazette is Colorado Springs's most trusted source for breaking news, sports, weather, obituaries, politics, business, art, entertainment, blogs, video, photos.Save this content for laterSave this content on your device for later, even while offlineSign in with GoogleSign in with your Google accountSign in with FacebookSign in with your Facebook accountClose

SUNRISE: Evidence missing in Colorado prison slaying case

DENVER — Defense attorneys are demanding the federal government turn over a videotape of a federal prison yard or dismiss murder charges against their client.

Gary Watland is accused of killing a fellow inmate during a struggle between white supremacist gangs seeking to control the yard at a federal prison in Florence.

Watland's lawyers want an indictment dismissed in the murder of Mark Baker over claims the government destroyed videotaped footage of the prison yard taken Aug. 10, 2008, the day of Baker's death.

The Denver Post reports (http://tinyurl.com/kbfn9ce ) it isn't clear what was shown in the videotapes the defense claims the government destroyed. The U.S. Attorney has not responded to the motion to dismiss the charges.

WEATHER

The National Weather Service forecasts a high of 84 with mostly sunny skies and little chance of precipitation Thursday in Colorado Springs. Expect an overnight low of 54. On Friday, the weather service forecasts sunny skies and a high of 85.

AROUND COLORADO

Officers search home of deceased boy's dad

DENVER (AP) — A man whose teen son's bones were found in southwest Colorado in June says investigators have searched his home and taken several items.

KUSA-TV in Denver reports (http://on9news.tv/15GFRxW ) investigators executed a search warrant at the home of Dylan Redwine's father Wednesday.

Dylan lived in Monument with his mother but went to his father's home near Vallecito Lake for a court-ordered visit in November. Mark Redwine has said he returned home from doing errands to find his son gone.

Mark Redwine tells KUSA that investigators removed sections of carpet and wood flooring Wednesday, dug a hole in his yard, and took a fireplace poker, clothing and a cellphone.

No suspects have been named in Dylan's death.

A La Plata County sheriff's spokesman didn't immediately return an email late Wednesday.

Boulder DA clears 17 suspected illegal voters

BOULDER (AP) — Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett is criticizing Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler after an investigation determined 17 people suspected of voting illegally in the November election in his district are citizens who were easily able to verify their status.

Those names were among 155 people Gessler identified statewide as possible illegal voters who he claims were not citizens.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera (http://tinyurl.com/lzz2h6m ), Garnett says the outcome shows Gessler's emphasis on finding ineligible voters and eliminating them from the voter rolls is a waste of resources and politically motivated.

Democrats and voting rights groups have questioned Gessler's findings and argued that voting records do not back up his claims.

VA demands proof hospital will cost $1 billion

AURORA (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is demanding a construction company prove a new veterans' hospital is over budget.

Kiewit-Turner told federal officials the $600 million Aurora hospital actually will cost more than $1 billion to finish.

According to the Denver Post (http://tinyurl.com/mmseml7), the Veterans Administration has rejected the contractor's demands to be let out of the building contract.

Help sought in case of decapitated dog

EAGLE (AP) — Authorities in Colorado say a dog whose severed head was found at a park appears to have been injured by a human, not an animal.

The decapitation was reported Aug. 4 in El Jebel, northwest of Aspen and about 175 miles west of Denver.

Eagle County sheriff's officials said Wednesday that it appears a human caused the dog's injuries. They say an examination by veterinarians suggests the dog might have been about 2 to 3 years old and a breed of miniature pinscher or miniature pinscher mix.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment.

Delays possible for new drilling rules

DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators looking at new air quality rules for oil and gas drillers may need more time.

Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission was anticipating possible delays at its meeting Thursday. The group is looking at stricter air controls for an industry that is one of Colorado's top air polluters.

Environmental activists have been hoping the commission is stricter on the industry than the agency that regulates spills, the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. The Air Quality Control Commission is part of the state health department.

The air quality panel is considering new rules including tighter emission controls on storage tanks and expanding pollution control requirements that currently apply in Front Range communities.

A Tuesday letter from Gov. John Hickenlooper to the head of the air quality panel called the work a "significant undertaking."

Hickenlooper appointed the air quality commissioners and extended the terms of four of the panel's nine members. The governor did not say how much longer the commission would need to finish its work, and a spokesman for the state health department did not confirm a delay.

The Denver Post reported last month that oil and gas emissions now are the main source of volatile organic compounds in Colorado and the third-largest source of nitrogen oxides.

Judge intervenes in Steak 'n Shake dispute

DENVER (AP) — The owners of Colorado's first two Steak 'n Shake restaurants have won a temporary restraining order that forces its parent company to give them access to supplies.

The Denver Post reports (http://tinyurl.com/l2wdc7h) U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore reversed a ruling against franchisees Kathryn Baerns, her husband, Larry, and their son, Christopher, telling Steak 'n Shake to reconnect the restaurants to a company computer system while a lawsuit over control of the business continues.

Steak 'n Shake Enterprises filed a lawsuit amid allegations that Denver-area menu prices were allegedly $2 or more above what national ads indicated.

Company officials could not be reached Thursday for comment.

TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.

In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.

In 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica.

In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while the remainder were taken prisoner.)

In 1914, the Panama Canal opened to traffic.

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.

In 1945, in a radio address, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.

In 1947, India became independent after about 200 years of British rule.

In 1961, as workers began constructing a Berlin Wall made of concrete, East German soldier Conrad Schumann leapt to freedom over a tangle of barbed wire.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents. Bahrain declared its independence from Britain.

In 1974, a gunman attempted to shoot South Korean President Park Chung-hee during a speech; although Park was unhurt, his wife was struck and killed, along with a teenage girl. (The gunman was executed.)

In 1998, 29 people were killed by a car bomb that tore apart the center of Omagh, Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility.

Ten years ago: Bouncing back from the largest blackout in U.S. history, cities from the Midwest to Manhattan restored power to millions of people.

Five years ago: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili grudgingly signed a U.S.-backed truce with Russia, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country. Record producer Jerry Wexler, who coined the term “rhythm and blues,” died at age 91 in Sarasota, Fla.

One year ago: The United States broke a 75-year winless streak at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium with an 80th minute goal and a series of saves that delivered a 1-0 victory.